The Quest of One: We Shall Start Anew
by The 162nd Warlord's Survivor
Summary: Most of you who've read the original for this about two years ago know what it's about. So I don't really need a detailed summary. I am so sorry that I took so long to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix (no pun intended), but there were so many story arcs I had to prepare. This isn't Attack on Titan, you'll have new chapters round the clock. I hope you enjoy a new The Quest of One!


The river starts rippling. It's a lethargic brown serpent winding through the tract of green jungle. The ripples are subtle, but drift throughout the water. I lift my head off the stiff mattress in the corner farther left from the door, ancient springs wailing and digging into my side. I hear the hum of an engine, and can feel the motor slicing the ruddy water.

"Hilde?" I ask in a hushed voice, but get no reply.

She isn't here, anyway.

Birds flit about in the treeline, insects run amok on the forest floor, monkeys cry out in the distance. And the hum of the boat's engine creeps closer and closer to the stilt house. I feel the water vibrating, running up the stilts that keep me in place. They cannot be too far now, maybe a few meters from me. A quicker, more intense hum runs through my chest as my heart palpitates against my lungs. Something heavy drops on the front porch, casting a shadow through the eroding planks of the walls. It makes across the walkway and, to my horror, stops right in front of the door. I bring my legs over the side of the mattress and place my feet gently on the floor.

BOOM.

In the instant that my feet touch the floor, I see the door explode beneath the boot of a massive, ugly, pale beast. A current of… something otherworldly, flows from my hands to my feet, like the wet smack of a water balloon hitting the ground. It carries into and through the floor, and hits the walls with such force that they explode outward, hurling the Mogadorian into the river below. When I hit the surface of the water, reality flips a switch.

Submerged in the Rajang River with an army of alien killers behind me, I find myself formulating images in the muck. A young Garde, not much older than I am now—dark tan skin, short blackish-brown hair, and wearing a black and gray Garde suit not unlike the blue and silver one I have on right now—stands before a hulking monster with sword-length gnashing teeth dripping with thick drool. He loses his balance when hit by some dagger-shaped projectile before spinning back around to launch a cone of icy blue material into the creature's skeletal face, melting off one of its horns. As the ramp folds up into the airship, I hear him shout a single word, and it surges through my mind: "RUN!"

The stilts holding up the house snap and the structure fills the murky waters. I guess the anchor is busted. Perfect. Under the cover of splintered wood and debris, I go in a U-turn for the net tied around the riverbed, taking a quick gasp of air at the surface before diving into its tinted depths. At the riverbed, tied up in a net and locked down with thick braided vines, sits the intricately carved box that contains the Inheritance of the past Garde in my bloodline. I slip the vines tied around the corners of the Chest over my arms like a backpack, the tight fishing net wrapped around the box for extra protection.

The long white belly of a speedboat soars overhead, and I'm careful not to get caught in the motor. If they're following the current—if they think I'm flowing along with it—then I may have a chance, no matter how slim, to escape. As I swim on, past the other boats, something long, thin, and slimy slithers down my leg, all the way to my ankle. In just a split second, my leg ignites in an inferno of pain. I thrash about violently in the weak current and clutch my branded ankle. If it weren't for the pain and the slime, I probably wouldn't have noticed the long little tentacle that somehow has a complexion between my skin and the water, as it slips its way back up my body.

Into the netting on my back.

Into my Inheritance.

As soon as I regain my bearings, another, larger net appears out of nowhere, encircling my body. I am lifted out of the water and into the humid, morning air. A boat full of ugly, twisted, and pale faces greet me, sharp teeth bared with glares and grins. Magenta and black eyes, scarce of pupils, stare down at me, full of malice. No, this can't be it. I struggle, kick, burst telekinesis in every direction, try to get out of this damn net. But it's all futile. There's no escape when they have me.

I don't know how long I'm tangled in this net. It feels like minutes of me flailing helplessly, the miraculously dry wooden box sticking to the skin on my back. All I know is that the sun was barely on the horizon when they pulled me out of the water, and when I am to the point where I can't move, to where every nerve on my body is stunted, and all I can do is have them pull me onto a boat, the sun is far above the treeline, in clear view.

A Mogadorian bigger than the rest descends upon me, dark leather scabbard strapped to his hip. He pulls free a wicked-looking dagger made of a white material that sure as hell isn't native to Earth. Or Lorien, for that matter. He cuts the net, but I am careful to avoid the reach of his blade. The Mogadorian grabs my side and pulls me out, tossing me onto the floor of the boat.

"Fuck you," I growl, throwing a punch which should release a telekinetic shockwave, but I'm too weak to generate one. "No…"

Before I drift into a stupor, I realize what they have done. Dragging me in the river along the side of the boat, keeping me tangled in the net, was all to tire me out so I wouldn't have the strength to use my Legacies. Loric didn't evolve from aquatic creatures like humans, but from aerial beasts that ruled the skies. I can surf and swim, but I can't withstand water like a human or fish could.

Oh, shit. It's just like five years ago. They got us at our weakest. And if they captured me, then that means Hilde cannot be far behind.

We're dead.


End file.
